Ford offers scholarship in honor of former CEO

Ford Motor Company is planning a $1 million scholarship program named in honor of former CEO, Alan Mulally.

The Alan Mulally Leadership in Engineering Scholarship will provide financial assistance to students pursuing degrees in automotive engineering, and is scheduled to run for 10 years starting in spring 2015. The scholarship program will award 10 one-time $10,000 scholarships each year to outstanding sophomore or junior engineering students at certain universities around the world.

Mulally joined Ford in 2006 and served as president, CEO and a board member until his retirement on June 30. Mulally achieved superstar status by putting an end to infighting, keeping the company out of bankruptcy and encouraging Ford to build well-liked cars.

"Alan's engineering background and data-driven decision making paved the way for the extraordinary leadership he provided at Ford," said Ford executive chairman Bill Ford. "We are honoring his legacy by providing scholarships to students who demonstrate the strong engineering ability that is required to develop into the next generation of leaders for our industry."

Ford Fund will manage the program as part of its global Ford Blue Oval Scholars initiative. Scholarship winners will be connected with the company's corporate science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) strategic initiative, which is building a new generation of leaders in these key careers.

Ford believes education is the cornerstone for a brighter future and will work directly with its partner universities to identify scholarship recipients. Last year, Ford Fund contributed $8.5 million more than 30 percent of its annual giving to education programs.

Copyright 2014 by ClickOnDetroit.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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